Alexander Litvinenko , Dinamika CSTS - ЗАО ЦНТУ "Динамика"
Release Date: 2010-12-17
Alexander Litvinenko, General Director of CSTS Dinamika, has been interviewed by Russianavia.net to discuss the history of Dinamika’s development and roots of its leadership in production of flight simulators and full flight simulators in Russia, the current situation with flight simulators on the Russian market and the prospects of Russian aviation.Mr. Litvinenko, we would like to start with the history of CSTS Dinamika that started between two political époques in Russia. What inspired you to found CSTS Dinamika at that turning point?
CSTS Dinamika was founded in 1989 with the objective of creating an efficient structure capable of running R&D and implementing innovations under new economic conditions. At that time, the only founder of CSTS Dinamika was the Aircraft Construction Society, under the Ministry of Aviation Industry.
When was the turning point in Dinamika’s development?
Dinamika started development of simulators in 1994 under the Flight Dynamics Control Systems department of TsAGI (Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute – Editor’s Note). At first, it was very hard due to the fact that there were very few projects. Our main task at that point was to preserve our unique team of experts capable of modeling modern aviation systems. So, we had to make an effort to keep the economic foundation of the company. The turning point arrived in 2005 with the newly approved Federal Law on tenders that created a transparent competition system for the contractors in Russia. Unfortunately, this practice is mainly used for military programs in Russia. According to this law, the Russian Ministry of Defense runs tenders (currently - as public auctions) for production, modernization and maintenance of simulators. Here, Dinamika outpaces its competitors because we act simultaneously as the organizer of design and development and also owner of the state testing certificates, intellectual property and required production facilities.
In 2005-2010, we have won 19 tenders for production of simulators for the Su-34, Su-33, L-39, Mi-28N, Mi-24P, Mi-8 (MTV-5). The major part of simulators in the framework of these contracts has been already supplied to the clients.
A completely new experience for us in early 1990ies was learning management that we started in the framework of a Russian-British education project, a brand new sphere of knowledge for our specialists and a necessary stage for us to grasp the issues of management, finance and marketing. Personally, I have taken a full course with the Open University of Great Britain, same as a few hundreds of other specialists from Russia (including TsAGI and Dinamika). Some of them have had successful internships with aviation factories in London afterwards. This is an exciting and very enriching experience.
Who were your main partners?
Historically, our partners are the leading Russian aviation design bureaus and research institutes – TsAGI, GosNIIAS (State Research Institute of Aviation Systems – Editor’s Note), LII (Flight Research Institute – Editor’s Note), OKB Sukhoi, RSK MiG and others.
However, it is common knowledge that it is counter-productive to focus on one developer only. The largest international simulator manufacturers, such as CAE and Thales, work with Boeing, Airbus and other manufacturers of aviation equipment in order to accumulate the necessary order book. Dinamika also works with the main Russian aviation design bureaus: OKB Sukhoi, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, RSK MiG, Tupolev, Ilyushin, Beriev, Mil, Kamov. As a result, we have produced a simulator for the new Sukhoi Superjet 100 in 2006. It was widely used for development and certification tests of Sukhoi Superjet.
What did your company take from this experience? Sukhoi Superjet 100 is the first modern civil jet created in the “new” Russia…
Firstly, this simulator was being developed in parallel with the jet, so we had to look for a lot of solutions together with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft. This was an exciting project. In fact, we made a cockpit model that was used by the developers of the jet. This helped them to save time.
What was the situation with the training simulator for Sukhoi Superjet 100?
The main condition of developing the training simulator for Sukhoi Superjet 100 was to comply with international certification. This is the first notable case when a Russian developer of simulators shows such compliance. The transition from Russian certification standards to international certification standards is one of our key objectives today. Currently, we’re about to finish another project and, hopefully, in early 2011 Dinamika’s simulator for the Mi-171 helicopter operated in HTP Ostrava, a flight training center in Czech Republic, will be certified in compliance with JAR standards. Its national standards compliance has been confirmed by, respectively, the Russian and Czech Defense Ministries. Besides, Russia acts as the supplier of modern technologies to train flight staff in Europe in HTP Ostrava training center, a unique Russian-Czech investment project. Today, HTP Ostrava is involved in training Czech pilots for international missions in Afghanistan.
How do you see the situation with flight simulators on the Russian market?
The Russian market of military simulators is very well-developed. Here, Dinamika operates both as the manufacturer and the co-developer of programs aimed at supplying the Russian military colleges and training centres with modern simulators. Moreover, this is a market where we are virtually the leading supplier for the Russian Ministry of Defense. In 2009, we have developed 15 simulators, with eight out of them exclusively for the Russian Ministry of Defense. In 2010, we continued with supplies of aircraft and helicopter simulators for the Russian Defense Ministry. In early 2000s, when the Russian Defense Ministry announced its decision to cut the volume of R&D, Dinamika started a search for efficient solutions to satisfy the demand for military aircraft implementing our innovations. Eventually, we have developed simulators with a new technical profile based on our latest engineering achievements and we also developed necessary financial base for that, and even found banking partners ready to support our projects. One of the key solutions at that time was to arrange patents and make this intellectual property a financial asset of the company for us to use it commercially. A very important development was accomplishing state testing for practically all our military simulators. As a result, Dinamika is currently the only Russian company disposing of state testing certificates for the entire range of military products that we have developed over the last years. Moreover, the Federal Law on government procurement (2005) that helped us win the majority of tenders for supply of military aircraft and helicopter simulators.
Such a strong position might tempt to rest on the laurels…
Certainly. Nevertheless, we are motivated by constant development of aviation technologies, arrival of new tenders, so we always need to be well-prepared.
Is Dinamika planning to continue R&D?
We have never suspended our R&D and we’re committed to continue this in the future. Approximately, the total cost of R&D we have accomplished over our history is estimated to equal 500 mln rubles. What’s important is that we run all R&D independently and we never borrowed the state budget. Talking about our latest projects – I would firstly mention development and supply (in spring 2010) of a simulator for the new Su-34 tactical bomber to the Combat Training and Flight Personnel Re-Training Center for Front-Line Aviation. This is a unique jet with very sophisticated avionics. Dinamika was responsible for its development, testing and organization of mass supplies on the basis of our innovations.
How do you see Dinamika’s future prospects?
We have recently supplied the MiG-31 jet fighter simulator to Kazakhstan Air Forces jointly with RSK MiG and Russian Avionics, and we’re currently developing a similar simulator for the Russian sea-based aviation. We plan to supply these simulators for the Russian Air Forces. We are also engineering a simulator for the Il-76 – an aircraft with huge export potential, we’re developing a simulator for the Ka-52 helicopter crew, and in the nearest future we’re planning to develop a simulator for the Mi-28N on a mobile base that’s going to be Dinamika’s individual project.
By all means, the market of simulators for the civil aircraft and helicopters looks quite promising for us. Unlike military aviation, there are dozens of civil aviation companies that are not focused on training flight crews. Both Rosaviation (Federal Agency for Air Transport - Editor’s Note) and the Russian Transport Ministry have been making a lot of efforts to equip the Russian aviation training centres with modern simulators. There are even a few federal programs in this area covering the next five years. Concerning Dinamika’s efforts in this area, about five years ago we started development of helicopter simulators, we took part in the development of a simulator for Sukhoi Superjet, and during three years we have been participating in the training program for MS-21 as the chief executor company for the flight simulator.
Besides, concerning civil aviation we would like to produce simulators for foreign aircraft and helicopters, primarily by Boeing and Airbus. On a commercial basis these companies provide the so-called Data Package to renowned leaders in production of simulators such as Thales and CAE. Obviously, the Russian simulators have very few chances with such competitors. In spite of the fact that Dinamika is a famous company with brand-new technologies on the Russian market, entering the world market will require overhauling our production. Nevertheless, we believe that this is quite feasible for us. We’re expanding and modernizing our facilities: very soon, we are planning to relocate to two new sites with modern equipment and a training center here in Zhukovsky. Such restructuring will take us to a new production level in Russia, and, given that the quality of our products complies with the international certification standards, we will manage to get a competitive advantage and preferences in the industry, same as it is done in the West.
How long will it take to start working with Boeing and Airbus?
According to my estimations, it might take a few years, depending on the course of Dinamika’s industrial restructuring that I have mentioned, and on financial support by Rosaviation. What inspires us is that we have accomplished a few international projects such as the first European helicopter training center HTP Ostrava CZ in Czech Republic jointly with THT Ostrava CZ. In the framework of this project, we have developed manuals and training programs and supplied technical means to train flight crews. We are also considering the option of creating more training centers. Namely, we are currently negotiating with our potential partners from Asia Pacific, and I am really hopeful that we will manage to create training centers there.
Many Russian experts in civil and military aviation were skeptical and sometimes even explicitly critical of the current condition and the prospects of the Russian aviation…
The matter is that it is not enough just to be willing to revive the national aviation sector or accomplish a certain project: what you want is good personnel and technological support. We must not forget that the last 20 years have been disastrous for the Russian aviation – both in terms of technologies and in terms of personnel. Unfortunately, aviation in Russia, as compared to the Soviet times, has ceased to be a ‘prestigious’ occupation. Nevertheless, I am convinced that we are not through the point of no return yet, and we definitely still have a lot of highly professional people in the industry. For instance, we invite students from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Moscow Aviation Institute to work with us, and, after their graduation, they continue working with us.
What’s particular about aviation is that the freshly graduated ex-students are, from the industry’s viewpoint, still immature and need to take their time to learn from their colleagues. I will illustrate this with a famous historical case: when the German and the Japanese aviation industries were liquidated after the World War II, virtually all the specialists quit, and it is only now that the aviation schools in these countries are experiencing a revival. What I believe to be important is that the Russian government is starting to make a lot of effort in this direction. I don’t think that this issue will be settled quickly but I am sure that everything that needs to be done will be done.
Mr. Litvinenko, what would you like to tell the readers of Russianavia.net about the next plans of Dinamika CSTS?
We have very interesting developments up our sleeve in the area of creating panoramic collimation visualization systems with large vertical look-up angles patented in Russia, with patents applied for in the U.S. and in Europe. Currently, we are in the final stage of a unique project for a firefighting simulator that will be compatible with both Mi-17 and AgustaWestland or Eurocopter helicopters. This was a very sophisticated project where we have been working with experts from the Russian academic institutions. As we have found out at the 36th European Rotorcraft Forum 2010, currently this is a unique development on a global scale.
In general, we are ready for any kind of international cooperation for simulator technologies, development of modern flight crew training systems and training centers.
| Company: | Dinamika CSTS - ЗАО ЦНТУ "Динамика" |
| Position: | General Director |
| Country: | 俄罗斯 |